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Senate confirms Blanche as attorney general

August 8, 2026

Todd Blanche won Senate approval to lead the Justice Department, clearing the chamber even as Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins voted no.

AP News reports that the Senate voted to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general, and that Senator Lisa Murkowski announced early Friday she would join Susan Collins in opposing the nomination, saying the country needs an attorney general “who will check the worst impulses of this administration.” CNN corroborates the Murkowski account, which makes the two Republican defections the most settled element of the story. The New York Times adds a vote-math angle, tying the confirmation's survival to Senator Bill Cassidy's decision to back Blanche.

The sources split on Blanche's June hearing remarks about a compensation fund. AP News carries the account that Blanche said the Justice Department would not move forward with a fund to compensate people who believe they were unfairly prosecuted, framed against bipartisan outrage over the prospect of payments reaching rioters who attacked police, and The New York Times sits with that side. NPR and CNN cut against that account, leaving the sources two against two on what Blanche committed to at the hearing. The context does not reveal why the accounts differ, so the dispute stands unresolved rather than explained.

What is settled is the confirmation itself and the shape of the Republican opposition, with Murkowski and Collins voting no and Cassidy's support proving decisive. What is not settled is the hearing-fund account, and readers should treat any characterization of Blanche's position on compensating January 6 defendants as contested until more of the record firms up.

Still developing

The status of Blanche's June hearing commitment on the compensation fund remains contested, with AP News and The New York Times carrying one account and NPR and CNN contradicting it. The final vote tally and the full roster of defections beyond Murkowski and Collins are not yet corroborated across the sources.

How settled the reporting is

Reported 27% · Contested 21% · Developing 52%

Sources